Railway rail movement restraining means



Jufiy 23, W35. H. ARMSTRONG RAILWAY RAIL MOVEMENT RESTRAINING MEANS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 HG. E. Q

INVENTOR FIG, 3, HENRY ARMSTRONG.

A I'TORNEY Patented July 23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RAILWAY MOVEMENT RESTBAINING MEANS Henry Armstrong, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, asslgnor to Engineering Materials Limited, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Canada Application February 1, 1932, Serial No. 590,175

1 Claim. (01. 238-304) a This invention relates to improvements in means for restraining the movement of railway '5 connected to a railway tie or other structure underlying a rail and adapted to overlie the rail base to restrain upward movement of the rail relatively to said underlying means.

- A further object is to provide means connected with a railway tie or other structure underlying a rail and adapted to press down upon the upper surface of the rail base, thereby to restrain both upward and longitudinal movement of the rail relatively to the underlying structure.

A still further object is to provide means connected to a railway tie or other structure adapted to underlie a rail, said means being releasably held to said underlying structure in either operative or inoperative position and adjustable from operative to inoperative position and, vice versa without adjustment of the means securing it to the underlying structure, thereby to permit assembly of the tie and rail holding means prior to incorporation in a track and also to facilitate replacement of rails and ties in service.

Another object is to provide rail holding means projecting but slightly above a tie plate and rail and being preferably in surface contact with the plate and rail, whereby'the holding means is protected against damage by derailed wheels or dragging rolling stock equipment.

Still another object is to provide a one-piece resilient rail holding member designed for interposition between a rail and a pair of fastening means spaced laterally away from the rail, and adapted to transmit and distribute upthrusting force in the rail substantially equally to both fastening means.

An additional object is to provide a rail holding member movable in the transverse direction of the rail into and out of rail holding position, in combination with fastening means remote from the rail and serving to limit the movement of the holding means in directions transverse of and vertically of the rail while preventing movement of the holding means in the longitudinal direction of the rail.

A further additional object is to provide rail movement restraining means includinga holding member anchored in such wise that it may be adjusted transversely of a rail into and out of operative position and which is constrained in either of said positions against accidental displacement.

A further additional object is to provide rail movement restraining means adapted for assembly to a tie or equivalent and for sliding movement from inoperative to operative position, and

vice versa, without adjustment of the fastening means establishing the assembly to a tie.

A further additional object is to provide rail movement restraining means including a tie plate of substantially normal form and free from upstanding ribs additional to those defining the rail seat and which may be easily manufactured by customary rolling methods, the said tie plate having surface formation adapted for co-operation with rail holding members to hold the said members against accidental dislodgment from either their operative or inoperative positions.

In addition to the foregoing, the invention contemplates rail movement restraining means comprising a resilient, substantially U-shaped lever member adapted to be engaged at one end with a rail and at its opposite end with fastening means secured to a tie and to be compressed between the rail and fastening means with yielding rail movement restraining effect.

Various other objects and the advantages of the invention may be ascertained from the following description and the accompanying drawing.

In general, the invention resides in the provision of a bent or looped resilient rail holding member adapted to be flexed between fastening means and a seat member and to be thereby releasably held in operative and inoperative positions with capacity for limited movement transversely of a. rail from one of said positions to the other, said member being additionally adapted for flexion between a rail base and the fastening means with yielding rail movement resisting effeet.

The invention is capable of a number of different embodiments of which only one is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, but it will be understood other embodiments and modifications of detail are possible and that the invention is not limited to the embodiment and details illustrated and described.

That embodiment of the invention now preferred and hereinafter described in detail com-1 prises essentially a substantially U-shaped rail holding member vertically compressed between overlying fastening means engaging the upper arm of the member and an underlying seat engaging the lower arm which is adapted to overlie a rail base. The holding member is movable transversely of the rail into and out of rail holding position, and is recessed for reception of the fastening means in suchwise as to limit movement of the holding member transversely of a rail, while preventing movement in the longitudinal direction of the rail. in its operative position the holding member functions as a lever fulcrumed intermediate its ends on said fastening means and bearing downward against the seat at its outer looped end and at its inner end overlying the rail base, thereby to resist upward movement of the rail and by its reflex action to press downwardly on the rail and resist longitudinal movement thereof. The holding member seat is preferably formed on a tie plate and the fastening means preferably pass through the plate to position the plate on a tie while the compressed holding member urges the plate against the tie. The contacting surfaces of the holding member and seat are formed with interengageable projections and recesses to releasably hold the holding member against accidental displacement transversely of a rail from either its operative or its inoperative position.

' The invention further comprises broadly and specifically the features or elements hereinafter described, claimed and illustrated, together with mechanical or functional equivalents thereof and all combinations thereof or of equivalents therefor such as will enable attainment of the objects herein set forth.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates that embodiment of the invention now preferred;-

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of one embodiment of the invention showing the same in both operative and inoperative positions.

Fig. '2 is a plan view corresponding to Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the structure shown in Fi 1.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, II designates a railway tie or equivalent, I2 a tie plate and I3 a rail resting on the plate. The plate is provided with transverse ribs' I4 which extend in the direction of rail length and form abutments for the edges of the rail base serving to hold the rail to gauge in the well known manner. The plate is provided adjacent each end and outwardly of the ribs I4 with further ribs I5 paralleling the ribs I4.

The plate is provided with a series of apertures. A roughly U-shaped holding member I6 is provided having a loop portion I I, a lower arm I8 and an upper arm IS. The parts of the holding member are so dimensioned and proportioned that when the member is in operative relation to a rail the loop portion I1 abuts the inner flank of a rib I5 while the lower arm I8 extends lengthwise of the plate and inwardly beyond the adjacent rib I4, so as to overlie the base flange of a rail resting on the plate between the ribs I4. The arm I8 is curved to some extent in conformity with the surface curvature of the plate I2 so as to lie in abutting engagement with the outer flank of the rib I4. If the rib I4 is higher than the edge of the rail base, it may be notched as at 20 to give passage to the rail overlying portion 2I of the holding member when permanent contact between the holding member and rail base is desired. If the rib I4 is not higher than the edge of the rail base, the notching will obviously be unnecessary or, if permanent contact between the holding member and rail base is not desired, the holding member may extend over a rib higher than the edge of the rail base and notching may be provided or not as desired. Regardless of whether a permanent contact between the holding member and rail base is desired, it is preferred to employ a notched rib and to locate the holding member in the rib notch, the rib being of such height as to protect the arm I8 against breakage by a derailed wheel or dragging rolling stock equipment. The arm II is provided between its points of engagement with the ribs I4 and IS with an upwardly arched erative or inoperative positions of the holding ,member, as will be clearly seen from Figure 1.

The holding member is preferably so formed that when inserted between the plate and the heads of the fastenings 23, it will be flexed in such wise as to press the arms I8 and I9 together, as will be seen by comparison of the dotted and full line position of the upper arm I9 in the left hand side of Figure 1. The width of the member I6 is preferably somewhat greater than the distance between the fastenings 23, and the edges of both lower and upper arms I8 and I9 of the member are notched, as at 24, to give passage to the fastening members. These notches are extended in the transverse direction of the rail a suflicient distance to permit movement of the holding member in the transverse direction of the rail from operative to inoperative position. Preferably, the notches are dimensioned to provide only this amplitude of movement so that the holding member will'be prevented from excessive movement toward or away from the rail and will be thereby held against escape from its assembled relation to the plate and fastening members.

While the holding member is intended for use preferably with two fastening members, it will be obvious that it may be used with a single fastening member by substituting for the notches 24 an elongated aperture intermediate the edges of the member as shown in my cope'nding application executed of even date herewith.

In so far as the function of securing the holding member to the plate is concerned, it is immaterial whether the fastening members 23 are secured to the plate and the plate in turn secured to the tie by other means, or whether the fastening members are secured directly to the tie. Most conveniently, the fastening members extend through apertures 25 in the plate and are provided with portions 26 screw-threaded or otherwise suitably formed for engagement with the tie to hold the plate and member I6 in proper relation to the tie.

The operation of the device is as follows:-

At some convenient point, such as a tie treating plant or tie storage yard, the tie plate I2 and rail holding members I6 are secured to a tie by the fastenings 23, which are inserted in the tie to their final service positions. In this assembly, the loop I! of each holding member I6 is arranged outside the adjacent tie plate rib I5, as shown at the right hand side of Figure 1, so that the end 2| of the holding member does not encroach upon the rail space between the flanges I4. The rail space is thus left unobstructed for the application of a rail. The holding member is compressed between the under side of the head of the fastening 23 and the upper surface of the tie plate, and is thereby frictionally held against accidental displacement from its inoperative position. The fastening members 23 engage in the notches 24 of the holdingmembers and thereby limit the movement of the holding members in a direction transverse of the rail to that necessary to shift the holding members from theirv inoperative positions to their operative positions. Movement of a holding member from inoperative from beneath the tie.

to operative position is accomplished by application of suflicient force to the outside of the loop I I ma direction toward the rail to cause the holding member to ride over the rib l5. In passage over the rib 5, the holding member is compressed or flexed to greater extent than shown in the drawing and, by its reflex action, causes its loop portion IT to seat on the plate inwardly of the rib [5, which forms an abutment preventing retreat of the holding member from its operative position though permitting forcible movement of the member to its inoperative position. In its operative position, the inner end portion 2| of the holding member is adapted to overlie the base of a rail resting on the tie plate and is preferably adapted to press downwardly upon the upper surface of the rail base with considerable force, as a result of the reflex action of the spring member due to its compression under the head of the fastening 23. The holding member is thus adapted to resiliently resist upward movement of the rail base due either to wave motion or to lateral tilting of the rail or to any other cause. The holding members likewise serve to hold the tie and tie plates up to the rail in the event of ballast being washed out or otherwise removed The fastening members 23, being located one at each side of each holding member, serve to positively hold the holding member against movement in the direction of rail length, so that when the holding member presses downwardly on the rail base, it will serve to restrain movement of the rail in the direction of its length.

'I'he'tie, with the tie plates, holding members and fastening. means assembled thereto, is shipped as a unit to the point of use and, when the assembly is to be connected to a rail, the latter is seated on the plate l2 between the flanges II and the holding members forced inwardly toward the rail until their inner ends overlie the rail base. Adjustment of the holding members may be conveniently accomplished by striking on the back of the loop I! with a hammer and may be effected without any adjustment of the fastening means, as the holding members will yield sufliciently to permit of their being adjusted from inoperative position to operative rail holding position. If it is desired to separate a rail and tie, the holding members are forced from their operative position to their inoperative position most conveniently by means of a claw bar bearing against the inner end of the holding member and fulcrumed on the head of the rail. No adjustment of the fastening means is required.

It will be understood this invention primarily concerns provision of a holding member l6 and anchoring means therefor and is not limited to the combination of these elements with a tie plate or with any particular form of tie and is not limited to any particular mechanical means for securing the elements together or to a tie, it being obvious that a great number of mechanical equivalents may be devised for the particular means herein described and illustrated for securing the elements to one another and to a tie to produce the desired rail holding effects.

The advantages of the invention are numerous and will be readily understood by those skilled in the design and construction of railway tracks.

Among these may be noted the following;Shop assembly of the ties, plate, holding members and fastening means and delivery of the assembly as a unit at the point of use enables the assembly to be efiected in the most advantageous and inexpensive manner and ensures proper insertion of the fastening means, The assembly avoids loss of small parts in either the construction or repair of railway track and greatly facilitates laying and repairing of track by reducing the number of parts to be handled and the number of operations to be performed. The resilient nature of the holding members normally operates to maintain a rail permanently in contact with the tie plate and the tie plate permanently in contact with a tie, thereby preventing rattling and mechanical wear. If the inner ends of the holding members do not normally engage and bear down upon the upper surface of the rail base as result of the formation of the holding members or of using thin base rails, the holding members are still operative to restrain the rails against excessive upward movement relatively to the tie plates, although obviously they cannot have any anti-creeping effect. The interposition of a resilient member between the rail and the fastening members relieves the latter of sudden shocks and of much of the upward urge of the rail, so that the fastening members are guarded against breakage and their grip in the tie is guarded against disturbance and impairment. The fact that fastening members need not be removed from a tie during the life thereof greatly prolongs the life of the tie, especially after the fastening members have become rusted in the tie and'cannot be removed without serious destruction of the fibre of a wooden tie. The holding members project only slightly above the tie plate and in service are shrouded in the plate notches 20 and between the fastenings, being thereby protected against damage or displacement by derailed wheels or dragging rolling stock equipment.

While the holding member has been shown and described as secured directly by the overhanging fastening members, it will be obvious a bar may be interposed between the fastening members and the holding member as disclosed in my copending applications executed of even date herewith.

Having thus vdescribed my invention, what I claim is;-

In a structure of the character described, in combination, a tie plate; two headed fastening members extending upwardly from the said tie plate and arranged in spaced relation; and a rail holding member of substantially U-shaped form, including two arms arranged between the said fastening members, in such wise that one of the said arms abuts the said headed fastening members and reacts thereagainst and forces the other said arm against the said tie plate, the said rail holding member being provided with notches in its sides and formed and arranged with capacity for limited movement in each direction of its length and adapted to coact with the said fastening members and the said tie plate in such manner that the arms of the rail holding member are urged one towards the other as the said rail holding member is shifted endwise.

' HENRY ARMSTRONG. 

